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Bad Influence

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What to expect

A smart, humorous and candid account of coming of age on the internet, from the much-loved online personality Oenone Forbat.

'I have spent most of my adult life online, so much so that it can be hard to know which parts of me are the 'real' me and which parts I have subconsciously edited, facetuned and perhaps exaggerated, to suit being so hyper-visible'

Oenone didn't set out to become an influencer. The word barely existed when she started posting on Instagram at university to document her 'fitness journey' after a toxic relationship came to a messy end.

In this humorous meditation on her digitized life, Oenone chronicles the pits and peaks of coming of age online. Grappling with modern-day issues on a public stage - from body image and personal boundaries to the limitations of online activism, Bad Influence examines what happens when your day-to-day reality becomes #content - and that #content pays your bills.

It asks: can you truly be authentic online? Can social media be a force for good? Is it necessarily bad for our mental health?

Written and narrated with wit, warmth and honesty, this is a candid account of what it really means to be an influencer, from someone still figuring it out: the good, the bad and the instagrammable.

(P)2023 Quercus Editions Limited

Critics Review

A warm, witty peek behind the influencer curtain. Oenone is equal parts insightful and entertaining - whatever your take on influencers, Bad Influence is a great read
Yomi Adegoke
Warm, juicy, and eye-opening, like having a chat with a best friend
Annie Lord
Boldly unfiltered and beautifully written, Bad Influence is a fascinating peek behind the social media smokescreen. A smart and nuanced read for our extremely online times
Lauren Bravo
A brilliant and necessary look at an industry that is wildly misunderstood, as well as a thoughtful and self-aware interrogation of millennial culture, identity politics and contemporary relationships
Olivia Petter
Like a glass of wine with your most loveable, charming and vulnerable friend. Oenone brings so much nuance to the concept of influencing and living online...If ever a book captured the zeitgeist, this is it.
Grace Campbell
Bad Influence is witty, honest and refreshingly self-aware. It effortlessly encapsulates the experience of a generation fumbling through life against a backdrop of social media and explores what it truly means to be 'an influencer' in today's digital age. Oenone Forbat is one to watch
Hannah Skelley, Fashion Assistant at The Times
I absolutely flew through Bad Influence and loved every page. Oenone has written such a fascinating and self-aware dissection of what it's like to live life in this parallel online universe. It's not just an interesting and incredibly honest memoir, it's also funny, warm and brilliantly engaging. It will leave you questioning about so much - but definitely not how many stars this book deserves. Five stars!
Lucy Vine
A fun and frothy insight into what it really takes to game the algorithm. An ideal summer read
Evening Standard
Oenone writes with real honesty and authenticity, highlighting the good and the bad aspects of having a platform and exploring the life behind the grid squares - the anxiety, scrutiny, and judgement
Glamour
The strength of Bad Influence is its meditation on the deep-seated paranoia that comes with being constantly exposed to so many people
The Economist
Author Oenone Forbat
Narrator Oenone Forbat
Duration 4 hours and 56 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781529423921
Format Audiobook
Publisher Quercus
Genre Humour, Memoirs, Self-help, personal development and practical advice
Availability AU, GB, IE, US

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